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12 The ArTs reAder’s Corner LITerArY ArenA ter 4.30 and place of ‘popular’ text on bookshelves Benefits of reading After 4.30, My Dear Bottle, The Common Man and Dear Daughter provided something of a culture shock, just as Mangua’s had done, for here was a novelist who told it as it is. Maillu’s books, mentioned above, were not to be read at the dining table by any discerning father, or indeed bequethed by a parent to a child. These are books you discovered on your own and read in hiding. Is that the position any more? That is debatable. had read them in hiding, for the content was not within what I thought my mother would approve of. And I was right. After 4.30, My Dear Bot- tle, The Common Man and Dear Daughter provided something of a culture shock, just as Mangua’s The elephant in the room has always been: should luridness and vivid sensationalism be put in print for posterity? by Patrick Wachira When I first read Charles Mangua’s Son of Woman, back in high school, I was taken aback by the brazen, forthright, if straight-shooting nature of the narrative. rightly so. I had basically relished class readers such as Charles John huffam dicken’s Oliver Twist, (the first Victorian novel with a child protagonist) White Fang, Mark Twain’s Adventures of Hucklebery Finn, among the first in major American literature to be written throughout in ver- nacular english, characterised by local colour regionalism. It is told in the first person by huckleberry “huck” Finn, a friend of Tom sawyer and narrator of two other Twain novels Tom Sawyer Abroad and Tom Sawyer, Detective. It is a direct sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. having such harmless early childhood Arabian nights books such as Ali Baba and The Forty Thieves and Aladdin and The Magic Lamp, it came as a shocker that some writers could breach my ideal of social norms as easily as Mangua’s Son of Woman and the sequel, Son of Woman in Mombasa. of course, I was disabused of this notion that writing generally had to fit within a certain template promptly when I read david Maillu’s works. At the time I read my maid- en encounter with Maillu’s works, still in high school, I had done, for here was a novelist who told it as it is. revolving around the tra- vails of disadvantaged characters and their attempts to fit in and overcome the challenges of penury, along with the resultant betrayal and hypocrisy in marriage, Maillu’s works must have elevated him up there as the father of popular literature. Literary scholars and crit- ics argued for eons about the place and relevance, even importance of popular literature in the lives of our citizenry, especially lovers of literature. social media and the internet pose a quick way of accessing porn We have come full circle, of course and should luridness and vivid sensationalism be put in print for posterity? should titilating and otherwise graphic description of people’s sexual lives be in print, even as fiction? of course, there is the immediate function of providing some measure of carthasis, by delving in and relishing acts and aspects of what would be otherwise personal sexual orientation and indulgence. This is the same type of carthasis, or denouement, provided by the season when youth underwent the rite of passage at circumcision and society sang songs that were forbidden at any other time. of course, the general mood provided for other acts as well, which we must discuss another day. Thus, Maillu’s books, men- tioned above, were not to be read at the dining table by any discerning father, or indeed bequethed by a parent to a child. These are books you discovered on your own and read in hiding. Is that the position any more? That is debatable. Put another way, I have a few of these books still but they do not share pride of place at the family bookshelf as elechi Amadi’s The Concubine, horsefall, Blackburn and Wanjala’s Attachments to the Sun, Cook and rubadiri’s Poems from East Africa, or indeed, James Patterson’s Sail or Run for Your Life. Where I have stashed them is a matter of conjecture and my daughter reads this newspaper. We have come full circle, of course and social media and the internet pose a quick way of accessing porn and what I have described as luridness and exhibitionism, spurred by the quest for the hidden and human curiosity. Thus, printed matter, though still relevant in our lives, is being fast overtaken by the advent of technology. Talk of new challenges. It’s like a wave,a new wave. And the new wave is you. Poet’s Vista Maria Wanjiru Beauty Full Land Colour of prosperity is bright The green field with cattle are quite a sight! This dawn rekindles my identity as a Kenyan It mends the broken ribbons of unity It’s a bond among regions The very tower of conference for plight Indeed, those that seek justice are heard! This Land is a blessed lot I tell you! That showers its natives with milk and honey As it came to birth so young and fragile Then beauty yet full now beauty full and beautiful! A night like a day in the sun where darkness is just darkness This land of Kenya Is a height with weight brimmed like a bag full of cherries! Where tourists lay safe and enjoy the shadow of Africa It is a sight to see and marvel To get lost at each moment without a doubt When the forests call for the rains and colour this weight! As the wooden stores keeps treasures for our generations, Water falls majestically and the wild animals calls for the flashing lights Oh! what a home I was destined for before my conception! Where the scorns of the sun’s rays amuse mine skin Solitude is the ribbon that wraps this wonderful package. This country, Kenya Robert Onsare Time and memory I hear the tides of love recollecting down stream Amid the bangs of this life The beautiful springs are flowing with echos of memory of songs and prayers of tears and pains of victory and defeat of loss and gain that have weaved us into a family. Our old table marked with storms and fires of life smeared with tears of joy and laughter I hear it whisper: The memory verses that have sustained our pilgrim and thus our hearts never grow old with grip of time in the azure, ‘14-setting with sparkling ‘15-rising. sunday, december 14, 2014 / people DAIlY Write to: [email protected]